The party encounters Midgar Zolom when they first arrive at the marshlands. It is easiest to cross the swamp by means of Chocobo. After traversing the swamp, the party finds a Zolom impaled on a tree, leading the party to speculate the feat was done by Sephiroth.

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It is possible though difficult to outrun the creature by foot. If the party battles Midgar Zolom, they must kill it to proceed - if they flee, they are transported back to the swamp's edge. If the Midgar Zolom pushes someone out of battle and the other members die, the player will appear on the edge of the Chocobo Farm side of the swamp without facing a Game Over. Even if killed, the Midgar Zolom quickly respawns to begin chasing the party again.

If the player does not wish to buy the Chocobo Lure Materia, they may utilize the save game exploit by simply starting to cross the swamp and when the Zolom's shadow is about to attack, the player can save the game, exit and reload the game. Midgar Zolom will spawn on the other side of the swamp.

When the battle begins, Midgar Zolom attacks only by using its physical attack and Bite. The attacks are powerful and can kill or severely weaken a character. As an upside, the attack will fill up a character's Limit Break meter instantly. When Midgar Zolom takes enough damage, it rises into the air and can use Push to remove a character from battle, a move it uses as a counterattack. It also uses the powerful Beta attack at this point, which is lethal early in the game, inflicting approximately 1,000 Fire-elemental damage on the entire party.

Despite its considerable power, the Midgar Zolom is not invincible. Barret can use his Mindblow Limit Break to drain its MP to zero, preventing Midgar Zolom from using Beta. If the equipped character has upwards of 500 HP (achievable at Level 16-17 and above), they can survive Beta by equipping an Elemental Materia connected to a Fire Materia in their armor. Midgar Zolom is vulnerable to Poison and Gravity, so the party can use any Graviballs they may have won from Deenglows in the Train Graveyard in Midgar to do heavy damage, or just poison it and wait it out.

There is also another method if Aeris has learned her level 3 Limit Break, Planet Protector. The party must attack the Zolom until it raises its head, signifying it is about to use Beta, then cast Planet Protector to make the party invincible, so that when Beta is used it will be learned as an Enemy Skill, but will not damage the party.

If the player is trying to obtain the Beta as enemy skill, they must make sure the character who holds the Enemy Skill Materia can survive the attack. There is also a chance of the player being pushed from battle, in which case Beta will not be learned.